Daniil Medvedev reached a fifth straight ATP Tour final with a hard-fought victory over his Russian compatriot Karen Khachanov in the Miami Open.
Medvedev needed two hours and 17 minutes to battle past his good friend Khachanov, winning 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 to set up a showdown with 10th seed Jannik Sinner. The last player to reach five consecutive finals on the ATP Tour was Ivan Lendl in 1981.
“In the second set I played one bad game, it was enough for him to win,” Medvedev told Amazon Prime. “Third set he had one break point [in the] first game, plays one bad game and it was enough for me to win, so I feel like it was a top match where sometimes it just happens – you can play one bad game in three sets and that’s what happened for both of us.”
In the other semi-final, Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner fought out an absorbing back-and-forth battle, a rematch of their blockbuster semi-final clash at Indian Wells last week. Both players traded multiple blows in a thrilling series of long rallies across three sets before an exhilarating encounter climaxed in a 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 6-2 win for Sinner.
Sinner took a 4-1 lead in the first-set tie-breaker, but Alcaraz stormed back to win the next six points and take it 7-4. In the second set Sinner shot out to a 2-1 lead after a break, but again Alcaraz levelled it up. Finally the Italian got the decisive break to go up 5-4 before serving out the set and setting up a decider.
Alcaraz started the third set moving gingerly and Sinner immediately broke in the third set before going up 2-0. Yet again the world No 1 produced a comeback but it was short-lived. Sinner prevailed in the end, taking the set 6-3 for his first victory over Alcaraz on hard court and first over a world No 1 to set up the Medvedev showdown.
Medvedev beat Sinner in the final in Rotterdam and also won titles in Doha and Dubai before seeing his 19-match winning streak broken by Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final.
In the women’s event, Petra Kvitova fought back from an early deficit to beat Sorana Cirstea in straight sets in their semi-final.
Cirstea led 5-2 in the opening set before Kvitova clicked into top gear and reeled off five games in a row, the 33-year-old then gaining an early break in the second set on her way to a 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Kvitova, who will face Elena Rybakina, the Wimbledon champion and Indian Wells winner, in the final, said: “I feel great to be in a final, that’s the most important thing. Elena is playing amazing but I could surprise her maybe. Who knows?”